The Underlying Causes Of The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide was one of the most violent historical moments that deprived homelands from 1.5 million Armenians through forced deportations and massacres during 1915 and 1923. As the turmoil between the allies and central powers escalated into WWI, under the guise of military tactics the Turkish government deported and exterminated the Armenian population. ”By the early 1920s, when the massacres and deportations finally ended, between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were dead, with many more forcibly removed from the country.” (Gale). The Armenians were subjected to deportation, abduction, torture and systematic murder. The atrocities that occured to the Armenian people was a byproduct of tension between the Turks and Armenians, initially
As stated by the Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life, “The Armenians existed for years as a Christian minority within the Ottoman Empire.” (Gale). Since Armenia dissolved into the Ottoman Empire there has always been a strained relationship between both parties especially after the collapse of the empire.They had very few political and legal rights for example, Christians had to pay higher taxes than Muslims. They were treated as second class citizens living in a largely Muslim Empire and for the most part were “tolerated”. Inspired by the French Revolution the Armenian population began revolting and demanding for civil changes. Many Turks believed that the Armenians’ loyalty had strayed from the empire to other countries that utilized them, for example when WWI broke out, the Young Turks saw Russia as the main perpetrator behind the revolts against the empire. The Turkish government grew more and more wary of the Armenian population living within their land since they believed that the Armenians held no ties to the empire. Fearful of the Armenians conspiring and tempted by the desire to create a more homogenous nation-state, the federal government began the systematic killing and deportation of the Armenian population, highlighting the adverse and extreme conditions placed onto them by their
History.com reports “Armenians are a strong, vibrant diaspora with over eight million Armenians living in over 85 countries across the globe.” As the treacherous conditions under the Turkish government grew, many Armenians began fleeing; fearing for their lives. The Turkish government passed the “Provisional Deportation Law, giving military authorities the right to do whatever force they thought necessary”(Stock), because of this much of the Armenian people were murdered, tortured and placed in concentration camps in the Syrian Desert under the suspicion of “treason”.In some cases, Turkey’s authorities accepted conversion to Islam in exchange for the right to live or to remain in places of residence (Grigor). Thus, demonstrating how the Ottoman officials conspired to eradicate the Armenian population in efforts to diminish the influence of a divergent religion. Due to the political push factors within Armenia, much of the population fled to avoid persecution,not to mention the large masses that were also forced to migrate by the Turkish government. This resulted in the large Armenian ethnic enclaves in countries such as Russia and the US, therefore illustrating how the Armenian holocaust plays a role in the spatial relationships of the Armenian